Awright looks like the embargo is over,
here's my let's play/30 minutes of gameplay footage. I promise I do not suck at the game or use a facecam..
My mini review:
Pros:
- A proper story. Nothing amazing, but it's got some slick art and some fun dialog.
- Difficult but forgiving gameplay; earning all golds and perfects is very hard, but just beating the game is very accessible. Dying is an extremely minor setback. No missable content.
- Time limits for bronze are always 20 minutes or longer. Actual gameplay is generally 2-4 minutes per level though. You will not run out of time, but will get shameful, shameful bronze.
- Gameplay exposes mechanics one by one with great tutorials (that you can disable after seeing once! Story can be skipped automatically too). You never feel in over your head.
- Superb difficulty curve going from braindead to very hard with no two levels feeling like an uneven rise in difficulty. Don't judge the game too early as it gets a lot deeper, but never overwhelming. Focus is on mixing different play mechanics more than having a billion unique mechanics.
- Platforming sections maintain the sense of speed perfectly and have their own fun mechanics like a 360 degree arm cannon you shoot.
- Control improvements make Long Form Teleport much less painful (1 button return to last telepod)
- The game warns you when you should deploy a telepod which makes the Long Form Teleport levels work reaction-based just like the rest of the game instead of stopping and looking at a map. LFTs are much less annoying in general.
- Visuals are fantastic. Art style is great and well realized in gameplay and story sections.
- Music is also great. You might want to check out the OST
- Lots of extras to unlock, I still don't have 'em all. Some simple minigames sorta like in the first game.
- BOSS FIGHTS. Very few, each very different, and very "velocity" in nature. Some are more puzzle than fight.
- Looks and controls perfectly on PS4 or Vita.
- Actual variety of levels, visually speaking, a new cosmetic environment every 10 levels-ish.
Cons:
- There's a couple (literally two) Long Form Teleport maze levels I didn't really like. Neat level design but a bit bigger than I enjoy. I actually skipped them until beating the game; the XP level unlock system from Velocity Ultra is still intact btw.
- Cross save doesn't automatically upload. Does auto download, and it exists, so it's better than nothing.
- Remote play doesn't let you touch-teleport like you can on Vita. Game's great without touch teleport, but this would be a nice touch. (Get it.)
- Throwing telepods in platforming sections is a bit iffy due to analog stick controls--sometimes I waste a second adjusting angle. Nothing big, but oddly imprecise compared to the rest of the game. Rarely an issue though.
Score: Amazing/10 just download it